Muffle-furnace.



No. 7|4,473. Patontod Nov. 25, |902.

E. EEILLE. nuFFLs FunuAce.

'App-lication Bled Oct. 30, 1201.)

(Ilo Model.)

` in Belgium, dated April 4, 1901, No. 155,759;

UNITED STATES ATENT Ottico..

EMILE GEILLE, OF BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.

lVlUFFLE-FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 714,473, dated November 25, 1902. Application led October 30, 1901. Serial No. 80,543. (No model.)

To all roh/am it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMILE GEILLE, a subject of the King of Belgium, residing at 17, 19, 21 Rue Jennart, Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, have invented new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Muffle- Furnaces, (for which patents have been filed in Germany, dated April 30, 1901, number of certificate 2,439, and in France, datedOctober 16, 1901, number ofcerticate 303,716,)

of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The present invention relates to a furnace for use in glass and similar manufactories comprising a series of muffles arranged upon a single ordinaryfurnace adapted to treat a large number of articles witha minimum expenditure of fuel, and to maintain at will an equaly temperature in all the muffles or different temperatures in one or more muffles or compartments, so as to be able to treat the articles in all the phases of their manufacture in the same furnace, and thus to avoid all injurious cooling due to transfer from one furnace to another,as well as the loss of time and work resulting therefrom. The advantages resulting from this operation are of especial importance in the manufacture of cheap glass articles, such as glass bricks for paving purposes or the like, because such manufacture is based on the use of waste glass to be remelted in molds beyond the reach of the flame, thus enabling enormous quantities to be treated simultaneously in the furnace in a series of muffles, especially if each muflle in. itself is of large dimensions,

" particularly with regard `to height, such form being suitable for each muflle of the whole' series, according to the systemof furnace of which they form part and to the mode of V heating,and which arrangement has,further,

the advantage of allowing the treatment of `large articles or pieces of glass without necessitating the use of a special mnfie-fnrnace.

This furnace is more particularly designed "for burning objects of artistic glass as used for vases, figures, ornaments, facing-stones for walls, &c. These objects are more easily made of glass only partially melted, and it is for this Areason that they are treated in great quantities in large mufiie-furnaces, wherein the mass may be heated to any necessary temperature to vitrify the surface uniformly and in such manner as to prevent injury to the vitried surface by smoke from the furnace. On the other hand, it is obviously impracticable to produce the objects referred to byfusion of the entire body.

In order to effect the heating to an equal degree of each of the muffles of a series-eight, for instance-by means of a single furnace, it is necessary that each mufiie of the series is exposed for an equal period to the flame and hot gases delivered by the lire. This necessitates a symmetrical arrangement of the muflies with regard to the fireplace, which in practice can be advantageously effected by arranging the mufl'les in a circle around ,the center of the fireplace, and this construction is chosen for the present example. In order to effect the uniform distribution of the iiame and of the hot gases and to cause each of the muffles to be submitted to its heat over its whole surface, it is further necessary, even in this circular arrangement of the muffles, to cause the flame to rise in the center of the series of mnffles and to expand above them and to return toward the bottom before escaping into the atmosphere. This mode of Working obviously requires the superposition of the muffle series above the fireplace and the arrangement of the mufiies in a chamber of such a construction as to permit the required direction of the hot gases.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows a vertical section through a multimunie-furnace, through the axis ofthe furnace, and through the channels on the line A B of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the furnace and of the muflles on the line C D of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the mnffle-chamber. Figs. 4 and 5 show a side elevation and a front view of the r0- tatory device, a plan view of which is shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 6 shows a plan view of an open work carrier, a certain` number of which can be inserted horizontally in the muffles to carry the molds which contain the glass Waste which is to be transformed into bricks or the like.

The fireplace is made in the form of acylin- IOO drical shaft a, lined with massive masonry b, l

consisting partly of refractory material and partly of ordinary bricks and erected above the ash-pito, forming the base of the furnace, the fireplace being charged with fuel through the mouth a. ,A grate of usual and suitable form is mounted in customary manner in the fire-place a and at any desired height, according to draft required-for example, as illustrated in dotted lines at a. The upper flat su rface of the lining b, in which the top slightly-tapering portion of the furnace a constitutes the base of the mu'flie-chamber d, upon which are symmetrically arranged, with their external sides coinciding with the circumference of the base, eight pillars e of refractory material preferably of trapezoidal cross-section, tapering inward, as shown in Fig. 3. These pillars c, which are entirely independent of each other above the base, are connected together at their upper ends by arches of refractory material in such a manner that the portion above the muffles constitutes a crown of refractory material, this arrangement being strongly consolidated by means of irou bands C, one surrounding the base and the others the top of the pillar formation. The inner face -of the crown, which is curved or hollowed, forms an arch 7L of refractory material, constituting adomed upper portion of the mnffle-chamber and the top of the furnace. Muftles f are so arranged in the space between the adjacent pillars that their external part exactly coincides with the opening or space formed by the inner edge of the crown and the lateral faces of the pillars e, so that the mufIie-chamber is entirely closed by the series of the muflles, which are themselves closed at their outer faces by means of convenient doors t' in any suitable manner.

The muflies are not directly supported on the base of the chamber d, but rest on aring of hard burned blocksj` above the base, so as to leave a space communicating with the spaces formed on the sides by the tapering of the pillars, whereby all the external surface of the mufles is accessible to the flames and hot gases which attack them entirely, as herein described.

The flame rising in a column from the tireplace a strikes the center of the arch h, upon which it spreads out and descends to the bottom and drawn by draft in the channels 7o envelops the mufiies. The channels 7c are arranged con centrically and close to the outer edge of the lining b, from which they branch off in one direction under each mufie in the base of the chamber and in another direction through the lower end of the vertical channel Z, arranged in the body of the pillar e, the upper end of the channel Z terminating under the hood m, which forms the base of the chimney above the furnace, as shown in Figs. 1,2, and 3. Thus it can be seen that in this manner the flames and hot gases, drawn from eight points under the muflles,

are distributed uniformly and heat to equal temperatures the eight muiiies which they wholly envelop. If the muffles are not to be heated, or at least a low temperature is to be maintained in them, slides n are moved to cut off the channels 7a, and valves o in the eight radial channels p are opened, which channels extend horizontally through the masonry from the top of the fireplace a and communicate with the vertical channels Z at the points where the latter meet with the concentric channels t, thus causing the flames and gases to pass to a great extent directly from the fireplace through the channels n Z to the chimney m without coming in contact with and heating the mufles. The lowest temperature exists in the muffles when the slides n are closed and the valves o quite open, while a higher temperature can be obtained by using the furnace with both the slides n and Valves o open, and this temperature can be varied if the valves o are only partly closed, leaving the slides 'n open, and under these conditions the temperature, although variable, is always the same for all the mufes. On the other hand it is perfectly possible to maintain different temperatures in one or more of the muffles by correspondingly regulating the slid es n and valves 0 so that one can use one or more of the mufes at will for melting and the others for reheating the articles, and Vice versa.

Owing to the described construction of the colonnade-chamber independent of the mufiles with its spaces between the pillars the muffies can be arranged in position in any desired manner-for instance, they may be permanently arranged or removable, and they can be made of iron or any other tireresisting material. They may be quite empty if they are destined for large articles, or they may be provided with lattice-work plates or shelves, as shown in Fig. 6, which are arranged on lateral ribs at the sides of the muflies when a large number of small articles are to be treated in molds, their openings allowing all parts to be suitably heated.

The above arrangement of removable mufes allow one or more of the spaces or bays between the pillars to be used when required for the insertion of other instruments or fittings, such as the rotatory support shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. In this case the mufflechamber forms a simple reverberatory furnace, the corresponding space or bay of which is closed by a double door q, through which extends the spindle for'the operation of the device by turning its external hand-wheel.

The device represented in detail in Figs. 4 and 5 is particularly designed to effect the exposure of all parts of the objects equally to the heat of the furnace. 4It consists of a simple rotatable table comprising a supporting-plate r, turning with the vertical shaft t, on which is fixed a bevel-pinion u, meshing with another bevel-pinion fu, mounted upon a horizontal shaft provided with a handwheel s, which serves for operating the mech- IOO autism. These parts are supported by posts a: o: and 'y and base z and may be provided with a rod w, by means of which one is enabled to insert the above-mentioned rotatable table and its accessories in place of a mutlle above the bottom of the furnace. If it be desired to givea'shining glazed surface to the `objects produced and impart thereto a uniform, smooth, and even surface, the articles are placed in the plate r and the latter rorated, so as to expose all parts oi' the surface uniformly to the requisite heat.

The articles to be submitted to the flames uareplaced upon the support r and directly exposed to the flames, whilethe hand-wheel s isturned to keep them in rotation in order to submit the articles on all sides and as long as required to the variable intensity ofthe flame,

whereby there can be carried out in one furnace in a continuous manner all the phases ofthe working process out of contact with or in `the presence of iiames with a minimum r lwamount of hand-work and fuel consumption l while obtaining the finest quality of work. f

Iclaiml." A multimufle-furnace comprisinga central fireplace a; an annular colonnade of pillars e forming a muffle-chamber d with radial t spaces between said pillars e; a reverberatory `arch h supported by said pillars above the t y munie-chamber; muilesfof suitable form in the chamber d; a concentric series of passages lo beneath the mufies f; discharge-fines Z` ini the pillars e connected with the passages 7c; and a chimney crown m beneath which the iues Z discharge, substantially as herein shown and described.`

2. The combination of the central ireplace (Umuftle-chamberd above said fireplace; re-

verberatory arch h forming the top of the muffle-chamber; concentric colonnade of pil- `lars e surrounding the mufle-chamber d and 1 supportingr the arch h; muflies f between the columns e; detached blocks j of refractory material on which the muliies are supported, providing spaces for passage of gas beneath 'said muffles; outlet-passages Za inthe ioorof the inutile-chamber beneath the muflies; valves n by which said outlet-passages Zccan be openedor closed at will; dischargetlues Zin the pillars e communicating with` the passages Za'and a chimney-crown m beneath which the iues Z discharge the gases, substantially as described.

3. `The combination of the central fireplace a; mutue-cham ber d above said fireplace; .re-

Verberatory arch h forming the top of the muii'ie-chamber,concentric colonnade'of pillars e surrounding the mufIie-chamber Z and supportingthe arch h; muiiles f between the columns e; detached blocks j of refractory material on which the muftles f are supported, providing spaces for passage of gas beneath said mufles; outlet-passages la in the floor of the muille-chamber beneath the muf-` Iies; valves n by which said outlet-passages Za can be opened or closed at will; dischargelues Z in the pillars e communicating with the passages Zt, radial passages p and valves o therein, permitting direct communication between the replace a and discharge-ues Z; and a chimney-crown 'm beneath which the iiues Z discharge the gases, substantially as described.

4. The combination ofthe central fireplace a.; m utile-chamber d above said fireplace ant nular colonnade of pillars e forming radial compartments in said muftle-chamber and rotatable table r for supporting articles to be treated in the radial muffle-chambers and eX- posing the same uniformly to the heat, as exy plained.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

EMILE GEILLE.

Witnesses:

AUG. J oERIssEN, GREGORY PHELAN. 

